


The end of one line. The start of another.

by Aquatigermice



Series: A series of different events [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Endgame fix it, Gen, Happy Ending, M/M, give it a shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-08-20 17:54:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20231953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aquatigermice/pseuds/Aquatigermice
Summary: “Hey, Stevie.” He tries to say it like he is unfazed. But his voice cracks on the name.The face of the man that had been his whole world, the one he cared about the most, his brother, wrinkles with concern. “How you holding up?” Steve’s voice is caring but Bucky doesn’t want to think too much about that.Bucky just wants his answers. Wants to know so that he can retreat back to somewhere safe. Figure out what to do next. If he wants to stay apart of this world any longer. Because apparently, it wasn’t even good enough for his best friend.“Did you save him?” Bucky grits out.Steve’s eyes look hurt before he leans back.“No. I did not.”(This is a fix-it. I promise you. We hurt enough. I just need a dramatic summary. :) )





	The end of one line. The start of another.

**Author's Note:**

> This is for everyone who had their hearts hurt and minds messed up. Who still can't deal with what was done. 
> 
> This is for Steve who wasn't shown right. Whose character was thrown out a plane in place of what was thought to be better. To Bucky who didn't get a proper scene while even the Ancient One and a rat got more significant parts. For Peggy who is the badest, kickass woman in the MCU. Stripped down to silence and made into a trophy wife. 
> 
> This is for them, you and me. I tried to make it right. Trust me this is a fix it. Please enjoy.

Bucky is not sure for how long they all stand there. Or for how long his resolve will hold before he crumbles into tears.

He wasn’t sure Steve was going to go through with it.

The plan to go back to the past but the proof is right there. In the form of an aging Steve Rogers.

It’s breaking his heart.

“If it is ok with you guys I would like a moment alone with Buck.” Steve’s voice is still strong. Still holds that Captain bossiness.

The others seem to think on this before Sam stands, shield firmly in hand. The two super soldiers listen in silence as Sam and Bruce walk away.

And when they are gone. Bucky holds a debate in his head as to if he really wants answers to all the questions.

In the end, he does. Gathering his courage to walk forward. He as faced many things in his life. 

War.

Zola.

Falling.

Becoming a weapon.

Finding himself again.

So many things all scarier than the next. But what got him through was Steve.

Steve made it all easier with trying to move forward.

Yet now as he sits next to this man he no longer knows, that has lived an entire lifetime away from him he is more afraid than ever.

Bucky can’t decide if he wants to stare forward or study this new strange creature beside him.

Steve reaches out placing a shaky hand down on top of Buck's. 

Bucky stares at the hand. His youthful one and then Steve’s old one. So different, when they use to be the same.

He then looks up into his face. 

Steve smiles softly. Those blue eyes were still soft and warm. So familiar.

“Hey, Buck.” He says. He looks at him like he actually missed him.

But Bucky knows that isn’t true. Otherwise, he would have come back sooner. 

“Hey, Stevie.” He tries to say it like he is unfazed. But his voice cracks on the name.

The face of the man that had been his whole world, the one he cared about the most, his brother, wrinkles with concern. “How are you holding up?” Steve’s voice is caring but Bucky doesn’t want to think too much about that.

Bucky just wants his answers. Wants to know so that he can retreat back to somewhere safe. 

Figure out what to do next. If he wants to stay apart of this world any longer. Because apparently, it wasn’t even good enough for his best friend.

“Did you save him?” Bucky grits out.

Steve’s eyes look hurt before he leans back.

“No. I did not.”

Bucky’s heartbreaks. A tear slips down. 

Bucky snatches his hand out from under Steve’s.

He wasn’t even good enough to save in the past apparently. He glares at this selfish asshole.

“That’s..” he starts. But his voice breaks he has to start over. “Steve, that was the only thing I asked was that you saved me, him, the other me. Do you hate me that much Stevie? What did I do? Do I mean nothing to you at all?”

Steve’s eyes go wide. Sparkles with tears. “No Buck, don’t ever think such a thing.”

But Bucky has heard enough he stands. “Don’t!” he is barely holding it together. He can feel the Winter Soldier creeping back. 

Cold and heartless. He wants to take his metal hand and choke the life out of the bastard in front of him.

“You don’t get to call me that.”

Bucky turns. He has to get away from here.

Before he can make it too far there is a tug on his arm.

He spins around glaring at Steve. The old man has some strength to him still if he can stop Bucky in his tracks.

“I didn’t save you.” Steve starts. Bucky tugs at the hand but the stubborn ass won’t let him go.

“because. He saved you first. And then they came for me.” It freezes Bucky in his place. 

Warmth then follows. Hope floods his body. “Who is He?” Bucky whispers. But Steve can hear him.

Steve gently tugs Buck closer. “Steve. Your timeline Steve.” He says it just as softly.

Bucky feels his legs start to give. Steve. Other Steve. God, it is confusing. Rogers. Yes, Rogers pulls him to the bench.

He goes down hard.

He studies the man. “Your not him?” Rogers smiles. “No, I am not.” More hope fills Bucky.

“So that was really your shield.”

Rogers smiles. “Yes. It is one of them at least. Tony made me a few. And Shuri, of course, made me a couple. I mean I guess you can say since they didn’t need to keep making you arms they made shields instead. But that was the original. Steve said it didn’t feel right to come back and try to live with a Peggy that wasn’t his, while a different Steve sat in the ice. Plus if he was already saving you well who would be there for me in the future? So he saved us both"

Did that mean the other James had all his limbs?

Wait… “Tony made you a shield? You were still fighting like this?” Bucky waves his hand at all of Rogers.

The man chuckles. “Of course he is my Godson after all.”

“Godson!!!” Bucky sputters. 

“Yes. Was there when he was born. Taught him how to fight. But you were the one to find him in the desert. And to figure out it was Obadiah that planned it"

Bucky wonders briefly at the ways that Tony was different. “Also not like this. I retired years ago. Gave it to my Sam and he did a wonderful job. Did some behind the scenes for a while. But for your timeline that is about eighty years from now.” The man as to look so smug about it.

“How old are you Steve?” Bucky is kind of dreading the answer. “It’s rude to ask someone their age Buck? You use to hate when Morgan and then Maria asked you that.”

So Tony still had Morgan in that world. “Maria?” Bucky asks.

“Yeah, that was Jarvis’s daughter. Tony’s granddaughter. She is the current Ironman. Well, Ironwoman. She holds the title but all the grandchildren operate suits. A whole mess of them. Tony, Peter, and Harley’s descendants. It’s a sight to see when they all get together."

It does sound like a sight.

“So my Steve saved you.”

He still can’t believe it.

“Yes, sir. Destroyed the Hydra base that had Buck. Used the time stone on his arm and then the tesseract to get them to Howard’s boat. There he leads them straight to me. The first words I got to hear when I came to was Buck cursing me out for crashing the damn plane and not jumping out. “

Bucky laughs. “I never got around to yelling at my Steve for that,"

Rogers chuckles. “Believe me in the hundred-plus years his ass was around he never let me live it down. He also fussed at your Steve for leaving you"

Fussed at Steve. Ha! “Steve stayed?” 

Rogers shook his head. “Not for long. He helped us get rid of Hydra for good. Had files from your time. We made sure all the heads were gone. Burnt out and never to rise again.” He sounded wistful. 

Then Bucky remembered.

“Hundred he lived that long?” Bucky knows what that means.

“He did have a very long life thanks to the serum. My Buck was in and out of retirement every other year. Especially with the dates, your Steve left us. Some events happen in every timeline.

Buck was a damn good sniper all the way up till the end,” Steve looks heartbroken for a second.

It slips out before he can stop it. “When did he die?”

A few tears do fall. “A week ago. He was 201 years old.” 

Holy shit. Bucky thinks if his Bucky was that old that means Rogers is 200. The serum slows their aging down.

Oh God, he isn’t even halfway done with his life. Wait does being frozen count. Dread pumps through his bones.

Crap. He may still have 175 years of living to go.

Rogers chuckles next to him. “It is a long time but it isn’t so bad when you have someone to share it with.” 

Bucky likes that statement. 

The fading sunlight catches the ring on Rogers’s hand.

“Who did you marry Stevie? Peggy? Or your Buck? Or someone else?” 

Steve looks at him all the fun and games are gone. “That doesn’t matter. What does matter is what you will or want to do when your Steve comes back. If he asked would you marry him?”

Bucky thought about that. Would he?

“Better yet,” Rogers says “Maybe you should ask him.”

Bucky flushes red. “I couldn’t I mean I don’t even have a ring.”

Yes, cause that is the most important reasons he can think of right now.

“I will leave you mine. It will fit. And I know for a fact he will like it.” Rogers gives him a wink.

Bucky sputters and tries to think of a counter to that. Rogers holds up a hand. “It is ok Buck.

Besides, my Bucky and Peggy picked it out. I feel they would like it to keep being used.”

That is a lot to think about.

His Steve is coming back. “How can you know he is even coming back?” 

Rogers takes his hand. “Because he said he would when he left after we ended Hydra. When he showed up to help with Bucky’s funeral he said he would. He also said it when he dropped me off here. Because and I quote “can’t let you guys be alone while I finish what I got to do. Someone has to keep my best man company”.

That sounds like something Stevie would do. Best man. Bucky flushes at that.

“So when will he come back?”

He is so happy. So hopeful for what adventures that are to come.

“When I die.” And just like that, the good feeling is gone.

Dashed away just as suddenly as they arrived.

“When you die?” he just has to make sure he heard right. Roger doesn’t look sad.

“Yes, he said he didn’t want me to go alone and that you would need company. He said I was the only one he could trust.” His smiles is warm and soft just as it always been.

“He didn’t tell you when right? Cause that would have been cruel.”

Roger laughs “ No just that he will take my body back and bury it, next to my family"

“What does he have to go do?” Bucky needs to know why Steve hasn’t come back to him yet.

“For starters, he has to put the stones back. But he said he wanted to meet our dad.”

Oh! Bucky thinks. Yeah if he had the stones that would probably make the list.

“But more importantly he wanted to see Ma and tell her that she didn’t have to worry about us. We would be ok.”

And Bucky knew than that he went to see Sarah on the day she died. Bucky had to work that day and she was gone by the time he got off. And the hospital wouldn't let Steve in to see her.

He never got to say goodbye.

But what Bucky kept coming back to was why Steve would do this to him.

The hand on his squeezes softly. “He said you were healing still. That you were in that point in your life where taking care of something gave you purpose.”

Bucky looks over Rogers. He reminds him of when they were kids. He small but looks like he will get into trouble still.

“I have goats already. But are you saying you’re my therapy pet?”

Rogers’s face breaks into a beautiful grin. “More like we help each other out. Like we always do. I heard this world had a lot of bad things happen. It needs fixing. I want to help do something to repay your Steve for saving me. And I could use a guide and a friend in this new world I am in. Besides, I have great stories to tell. You might even learn a thing or two. So what do you say?”

Bucky leans back. Remembering his Steve’s final words. ‘it will be ok Buck.’ 

So he turns. Smirks at Rogers. Before saying. “Till the end of the line Pal.”

**Author's Note:**

> It has taken me a long time to settle with Endgame to this point. To figure out a way to make it work and remain true to the Steve I fell in love with. At first, I was thinking of an evil Steve. One that went back and used the stones to make a perfect timeline for himself. And he was caught and aged by a Time Force Avengers group. 
> 
> Then he crossed paths with our Steve. Trapping him in the reality stone. But the more I was thinking about that story the eviler it became. Going as far as Steve killing the one in the ice so that no one would know the truth and so he would have a shield. But I couldn’t bring myself to write that. I wanted something happy.
> 
> I wanted something that sounded more like Steve. I want to say Russo brothers and Marvel good job on messing up a good thing. You created it. You milked it. And you tried to destroy it. And I know you were trying to say that things could only work out for Steve when he stopped being gay. So this story is to prove you wrong and fix your mess. Or at least part of your mess since it was only number one in a long list of messes.
> 
> But lastly, this story in my head has Steve dropping off notes and objects for Bucky between his mission. And in five years he comes back for good. Enough time to put the stones back and get Loki. I also left it open for past Steve. Maybe he and Peggy did date and marry. Maybe they weren’t right for each other. Maybe he married Bucky. Maybe he did both. The point is he saved Bucky (his greatest regret), Peggy had a choice and Steve is still a good man. And no one is left behind!!!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] The end of one line. The start of another.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23403877) by [Ravin_Pods (Ravin)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ravin/pseuds/Ravin_Pods)


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